


And Then There Was One

by firelord65



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27074587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firelord65/pseuds/firelord65
Summary: The aftermath of the loss of the Supremacy at Crait weighs heavy on Hux.
Relationships: Armitage Hux & Phasma
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11
Collections: Little Black Dress Flash 2020, Star Wars Multishippers





	And Then There Was One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Filigranka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Filigranka/gifts).



General Hux stood on the salted earth of Crait and felt, not for the first time, something waver within him. Not regarding his allegiance to the new Supreme Leader - that was obviously not going to last once Hux figured out a clean means to eliminate the man - but a subtle disquiet within his soul. 

Which was just ridiculous, really, to consider this far along in his life. Armitage Hux was not the kind of man to wax poetic about  _ the state of his soul _ . That was something much more suited to… well, no one that Hux knew but there were certainly men out there who would. Men who had less important priorities. 

So then, why was Hux left with hands shaking and chest tightening as he watched his men sweep through the swiftly-abandoned base? He turned his head and his frown deepened as he regarded the sallow face of the Major beside him. He wasn’t the person that Hux wanted to have at his side. There was a noticeable absence there, filled only in name by this next cog in the rank and file. Everyone was proceeding with their tasks in a bland sort of routine way. Regardless of Snoke’s demise, the wheels were still in motion. The Order would proceed. 

Hux cleared his throat. “Status report for the troopers?” he asked. To regain a sense of normalcy and to quell the trembling that his father would have slapped him for, Hux fell back into a comfortable parade rest. With his hands clasped behind his back, he resembled the same man who had stood on Starkiller’s precipice and declared victory. 

Another memory now soured by the current situation. Had that really been so short a time ago? Two craterous wrecks now stood between Hux then and now. And so many casualties, though not all of them painful. But enough. 

The Major made an undignified noise. “Does it matter?” he replied curtly. “We have greater priorities. Namely, transport back off of this rock.”

Hux peeled his lips away from his teeth and allowed himself just this one moment. “If I ask you what the inventory count of salt shakers is in the galley, I expect an answer from you, Major,” Hux spat. “ _ We _ have no priorities.  _ You _ have whatever priorities that I pass down to you from the Supreme Leader. Right now I am asking a very simple question - what is the status of the troopers?”

It would be easy to stomp and snarl and carry on until the Major was thoroughly cowed. Hux curtailed the urge and settled for a final glower. The Major scoffed but did not protest further. “I haven’t heard anything. The squadrons on the ground here are all reporting in as needed. No significant casualties and there hasn’t been a peep regarding any straggling Resistance members,” he reported stiffly. 

Hux looked up at the sky. The day’s cloud cover wasn’t dense, but it was enough along with the sunlight to make it impossible to view the shattered husk of the  _ Supremacy  _ above. Hux twitched his head in its direction. “And those who were on board the ship?” he asked. It took a not-insignificant amount of self control to keep any emotion from entering his voice. 

“Not certain,” the Major admitted. He had the decency to shift uncomfortably on his feet. “Most of the trooper command structure has been fragmented, especially since the loss of Captain Phasma. But those who evacuated and regrouped planetside have performed adequately.” 

Hearing her name dropped so casually by this man - this nobody within the chain of command - rankled Hux further. He inhaled sharply and once again tempered his tongue. Saying nothing was the smart, respectable thing to do. 

The Major, still uncertain of just what General Hux wanted from him, continued to prattle on. “Which is exactly what we expected from those troopers?” His voice held the unmistakable rise in pitch wherein he was just hoping to say the correct thing. “After all, there have always been great expectations from that program.”

Hux raised his palm to get the man to shut up. “Enough!” He still hadn’t stopped looking up where the ship surely was. Perhaps by now the fires had broken through the outer hull plating and been snuffed out by the oxygen loss. Or maybe the shield generators were letting the structural integrity hold on by a hair’s breadth and there were still officers and troopers burning, screaming, dying aboard. 

He wanted to believe that perhaps, maybe, Phasma had not fallen to the fires that had ripped through the structure. But it did seem fair on some cosmic level that she would be another sacrifice to bring him just that step closer to power. After all, with Kylo alone being the single step remaining before the Supreme Leader’s chair, surely Hux would not long remain a mere General. If Crait was any indication, Kylo would stumble and lose his grip all too soon. 

But Hux would have to watch and wait for that, alone. The remaining rank and file of the Order like this Major here would offer no clarity of vision to Hux or unwavering support. That had been Phasma, at least for a little while. 

Exhaling roughly, Hux pulled his eyes away from the skies. If he was truly on his own now, the first thing he had to do was get his head out of the clouds and watch his back. 

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it would be interesting to poke at Hux depending on Phasma - and realizing what losing that meant - post-TLJ. I hope this was interesting for you, Filigranka!


End file.
